


what glistens in the night

by ComposerEgg



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Child Abuse, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Fangan Ronpa: Fangan Academy, FebuWhump2021, Gen, Mind Control, Vampires, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:01:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29127621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ComposerEgg/pseuds/ComposerEgg
Summary: Sickness hangs in the stuffy air of your too-small house, filled with parents and siblings too young to help or too old to avoid the disease.You knock.there are teeth in your neck.
Kudos: 3
Collections: Crossover Collection Party





	what glistens in the night

**Author's Note:**

> [febuwhump](https://febuwhump.tumblr.com/post/638041380836540416/febuwhump-2021-prompts-the-prompt-list-is-out)
> 
> day one: mind control

Sickness hangs in the stuffy air of your too-small house, filled with parents and siblings too young to help or too old to avoid the disease.

And you.

You are five. Small little one that you are. Well-loved, though food is scarce and the illness has come knocking. Your family is suffering.

Mother looks at you, places a gentle, warm hand against your cheek, and through coughs says, "Get help, or get yourself to safety. I'm sorry I have to ask this of you, but as we are, we cannot take care of you. The most important thing is that you stay alive, my love."

You nod, spark of determination in your eyes, as she brushes her fingers through your hair, one last time.

The village, once so bustling with life, is silent these days. Many people are bedridden, and others wish to avoid the same fate. No one answers their door.

It’s evening, when you give in, and choose to approach the big house, the manor at the edge of town. You’ve heard the rumors. People sometimes don’t come back, when they visit the Makis. But this is for your family.

You knock.

The door opens, and on the other side, a tall man stands.

He says something. Something about being lucky, but your head is getting fuzzy. He guides you inside. Tells you to drink, but drink what? You have been given no cup.

Oh. Something presses against your mouth, dripping and cold. This must be what he wants you to drink. It’s important to listen, and do what you’re told.

You’re in a barren room. You don’t know how you got here. Sparse blankets, one pillow, one cot await you. The man smiles at you, and his words seep into your brain, burrow into your bones.

“Do not sleep, until I allow it.”

~~something~~ nothing is wrong with this.

~~there is pain as your cells revolt against the blood that stains your mouth. you are given no food, no water, for two days.~~

you sit in this room, and smile, because that is what he wants you to do.

~~screams build in your throat desperate to escape, your brain is not big enough to handle what is happening. expansion and connection and emotions and commands that are not your own. burning agony which cannot flee muffled by the blinding blanket, bruised and broken spirit which was never given a chance to fight.~~

he appears with food and water. ~~you cannot wish for death, the bonds are far too tight~~. smiles. you need your strength, after all. for what?

there are teeth in your neck.

~~you are so, so~~ ~~ _very_~~ ~~scared.~~ this is _right_. this is the way things are meant to be. the more your veins are emptied, the more room exists for experiencing enthusiastic ecstasy ~~this is not yours not yours, these emotions which flood you do not belong to you but~~ this is _correct_.

it ends far too soon. left cold and empty and so very, very tired. he tells you that if you are good, if you behave, he will let you feel like that again.

for now, you sleep.

~~he doesn’t say, but you learn later, that it doesn’t have to feel good. without the buffer of those emotions, it just hurts.~~

hands in your hair, and you tilt your head.

clean the blood away. clean the halls and floors. learn from the others how to do your chores.

a tug, and you go slack. wait for pain or pleasure. youve been doing good, you hope its the latter.

no matter how much food you eat, how much water you drink, the chill never leaves. fires are lit only on the coldest of nights. only for the ones who live.

you are pretty, they say. praise, perhaps you have been good today.

its hard to remember if the myriad of injuries youve felt were ever real, with how fast you seem to heal.

~~they do not have to be nice to you. claws cut crude shapes from you. bones have been broken from not moving away in time. but their favorite toy can’t be~~ ~~_spoiled_ ~~ ~~, now can it?~~

they play dressup. put you in fancy clothes, show you off to the others. let them have a bite. youre told this is all very important. youre doing something important. helping the family.

your family, they start to say.

~~they are not your family but you cannot think this the pain is far too great, they shape the way you think and act and to deviate leads to dangerous traps.~~

family is very important. the most important, don’t you know? and you are…. theirs.

the rewards outweigh the punishments, these days. but they do not let you forget that to truly become family, you must first suffer. its part of the process, they claim.

itll make you better in the end. forge you into a Maki. but first you must prove you can be one.

~~resignation. you will die soon, this you know, but cannot think.~~

they let you shop, rarely. ~~have you become that unrecognizable? how long has it been?~~

you are running late, the sun has set, they will soon be awake. but there is so much to carry.

Someone takes your hand, and a basket, and walks with you. if She says something to you, you do not hear. She speaks with him, as you stand to the side, waiting for him to punish you.

~~it hurts. so much more than you have faced in recent times. not that time means anything, when your head is static, and you lost count of how often your blood leaves.~~

they allow you time in the garden, these days. it has become a sanctuary. less likely to be called forth. plenty of others can also offer up what does not belong to them ~~anymore.~~

You find a Gap.

there has not been any orders against slipping through, so long as you are back by the rise of the moon.

you wander. wander until you find a home. peer in the window and find Her.

She smiles when she spots you, lets you in. Tells you to be careful, as she cannot be outside with the sun, but that you are welcome to visit. Talks to you about all manner of things. Lets you talk back, when you can muster the words.

She is…. Nice.

~~your head is less cloudy, as you slip back. as you return to your state of fugue. the chance to breathe is dangerous. they could notice. you want to return so very, very badly.~~

You aren’t caught.

You visit again, and you still aren’t caught.

You start to… ~~you start to want this more. You start to feel freedom beat in your chest. You~~ ~~ _cannot_~~ ~~allow~~ ~~ _them_~~ ~~to know.~~

These chances are rare, are ~~claiming something for yourself, the taste of more than just food she feeds you. You are still drowning, head under the water, but the surface is clear.~~

…

She laughs at something you say, and ruffles your hair.

you go slack.

head tilted to the side, eyes shut, bracing for whatever she chooses to do.

…

Nothing happens.

Instead, when you look, she stares in horror ~~you think it’s horror, you do not know, you~~ ~~ _do not feel what she feels_~~ ~~.~~

“I don’t think I’ve asked your name,” she whispers.

“Maki.” It is all you know to say.

“Your… Full name.”

It hasn’t been spoken out, not yet. _They_ don’t know it, yet. You like the sound, know it could be a name, though not if it is yours. But she wants a name from you, and you have considered it.

“Not-- Not yet. I do not. Get one. Until they have made me family. Properly.”

The words leave your mouth, stuttered out. But something in you _burns_ , and before you can stop yourself ~~you do not want to stop yourself you want her to~~ ~~ _know who you are_~~ ~~.~~ “Rin.”

She nods, and smiles again, though it fades. She does not touch your hair. Or you, at all. “Well then, Rin. I’ve been wondering for a while, how bad your circumstance was. Let me ask you this: If I could offer you help, if you didn’t have to be a Maki, would you take it?”

~~Yes yes yes~~ ~~ _yes, so desperately you want to say yes_~~ the Makis are family and you must say no, they are all you know ~~but you~~ ~~ _know her, she is nice, she does not hurt, say yes._~~ The chains around your mind tighten and you can _feel_ that compulsion which shall force your tongue coming to call and and ~~say it, say yes, yes, say yes, say~~ “Yes. _Please_ , yes. Ple--”

You choke on the rest of what you have to say, mouth snapping shut.

There are fangs in your neck, and there is pain.

But as the venom seeps into your blood, the fog clouding your head lifts.

The moments of your death are the most clear-headed ones you have.

When you next awake, you are on a gently-rocking ship, and the last ten years of your life demand to be _felt_. Felt in a way you have long since been forced to forget.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading, idk how much we're gonna do this challenge but this was fun


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